I could use your help spreading the word. Here is what my new xanga consists of:

Sometimes it can be difficult to realize the value of a human life. Not to say that there aren't some of us who can wrap our heads around it; just saying there aren't many. My question is how can so many people be so ignorant of what they actually have? Tangibly, we're just a being: a breathing, walking, decision making being. But there is so much more! We're the only living being able to make a difference in this world and yet so many of us don't.

And that is why I am here. Because each and every one of us can make a difference in the world.

Did you know that as of fiscal year 2005 that 513,000 children around the United States reside in foster homes? How about that only 20% of these kids were expected to be adopted and only 18% were actually adopted? That leaves 420,660 kids living in a foster home until their 18 birthday when they are released with no where to go.

These children are people, too. Just as you and I, they need love and care, but most of them will not receive either. Together you, me, and the world can make a difference. I'm 16 years old and I can't do this alone.

Here's what I am trying to do. I'd like to send care packages to every foster child in Colorado. If that happens, then I will broaden my goal to other states. Included in these care packages are hand written letters addressed to each child individually letting them know that they are loved, cared for, and thought of; a teddy bear to represent the friendship which they have found in this organization; and special gifts as seen fit depending on the child's age.

Let us take small steps to a big difference. Please, please, please: If you would like to help The Giving Tree, send an email to me at GivingHope7@gmail.com or comment me on here. From there I can provide you with more information.

"You must be the change you'd like to see in the world." -Ghandi

I'm just starting out this organization. I'm trying to hit the ground running and even if you'd just like to send a hand-written letter or a teddy bear to be passed on to a child, your donations are much appreciated.

-Allyson

Everyone knows the feeling. You know, the day you think to yourself "My God, today could not get any worse." And then as if things weren't bad enough as it was, it does... it gets worse. How do you continue on through the day when it has become an exponential decay--it starts out alright until it slowly gets worse, and then suddenly it plummets into a monsterous black hole? Why do days like this happen? Is it the fault of the universe holding an invisible cloud over you so the rain just keeps coming, or is it your own fault?

The bad days, yes, sure they come, but then they go. And even when you don't feel as though the rain will ever end, it has to at some point. Life isn't a lake that will overflow and drown the town. Life is like... a rainbow. Man, that sounds cheesy, but really, just hear me out. The bad times--the rainy hours--they exist, yet the beauty of the following rainbow makes up for it all. The rainbow is hope, it's the motivation to keep moving on. And dammit it's hard to make it through the rain, but if you yourself keep the thought inside that the rainbow is soon to come, then I promise you'll make it through.

Even the sun has the days that it just can't shine as bright, and trust me, those somber days will appear periodically through your life, but it is up to you to not let that day turn into weeks or months. Don't remember the rainbow when it's too late. And not only is it up to you to keep the bad days short, it's up to you to not let it spread. Yes, they say that smiles are contagious, but so are frowns, and that isn't the kind of feeling you want to be spreading throughtout the world. Bad days, they happen, but it is in your power to make them good. This is the one point in your life where you can prove your omnipotency and show the world how capable of changing bad into good you are. It all depends on your outlook of things. A very famous cartoon character, Ziggy, once said "You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses." Now that's one I haven't heard before. It proves that any situation, even something as displeasing as a thorn can be turned into good with the right attitude.

In the movie Castaway, just for those of you who haven't seen it, (See it! It's amazing!) the main character played by Tom Hanks is the sole survivor of a small plane crash. He spends years and years on a deserted island, making due with a few packages that washed ashore after the crash. He even tries to commit suicide by hanging himself off a branch on the edge of a cliff. Once he's rescued years later, he says:

"I was never gonna get off that island. I was gonna die there, totally alone.I was gonna get sick, or get injured or something. The only choice I had, the only thing I could control was when, and how, and where it was going to happen. So... I made a rope and I went up to the summit, to hang myself. I had to test it, you know? Of course. You know me. And the weight of the log, snapped the limb of the tree, so I-I - , I couldn't even kill myself the way I wanted to. I had power over nothing. And that's when this feeling came over me like a warm blanket. I knew, somehow, that I had to stay alive. Somehow. I had to keep breathing. Even though there was no reason to hope. And all my logic said that I would never see this place again. So that's what I did. I stayed alive. I kept breathing. And one day my logic was proven all wrong because the tide came in, and gave me a sail. And I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring? "

In this quote, Chuck Nolan (Tom Hank's character) realizes in his suicide attempts that life is always worth living but it is constantly changing. You've just got to keep breathing, and tomorrow the sun will rise and give you a fresh start.

Maybe you think a lot of what I've said today is a load of bull crap. That's fine, I'm not asking you to conform to my ideas (and I'm sure you all know my feelings on conformity), but I'm asking you to try to accept them. I don't know the exact quote but I know there is something out there about how smiling, even when you aren't happy, will eventually wear into you and make you happy. It's like if you call yourself something enough times like stupid or fat, you will eventually become that thing. So maybe if you tell yourself enough that you can be happy and try to look at the positive side of things, then that will happen.

I'll leave you today with this:

Ah, the holidays. The only time of year when it's accepted by society to walk around saying "God bless," the only time of year when it's expected for enemies to look at one another and say "My, you're looking wonderful," and best yet, the only time of year when it's alright for barely-cordial families to join together and sing "Merry Christmas" with those cookie cutter smiles and those oh so cliche tag lines. Oh, the spirit of Christmas.

Honestly, what is it with the holidays anymore? Over time, "the spirit" has evolved from the spirit of Christ to the spirit of Santa Claus and the gifts he leaves behind. It is a beautiful thing when a person gives a meaningful gift to someone who really needs it. But tell me, what do you call the moment that a person gives a thoughtless gift to someone simply because it's expected? It's aimless, it's meaningless... it's useless.

I remember when I was a little girl. Yes, technically I still am, but I mean little little girl. When I would promise myself  that I wouldn't fall asleep on Christmas Eve so I could anxiously listen for the slightest hint of a footstep on the rooftop. Then I would fail miserably and fall asleep only to wake up the next morning to the best day of the year. It was the perfect time of year. We would go to Aunt Carol's house and join around a beautifully set table with wonderful food. Everyone seemed so happy, everything seemed to perfect.

It was as I got older that I realized this perfect feeling was only skin deep. What use is happiness when it is merely superficial? My thoughts of the perfect Christmas day slowly turned into thoughts of abhorrence and outright disgust at the shallow meaning of the holidays. No longer was it the wonderful company and the spirit of the day. Rather, it was the forced gifts and the atmosphere of complied presences.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I have a terrible family, not at all. I love my family. But around the holiday season I tend to wonder whether or not the holidays will ever return to the way they were in the olden days. You know, a warm cozy house filled with happiness and laughter. The holidays have become cold. Not only outside, but inside as well--inside our hearts. Not just in my family's celebration but in society as a whole. Honestly! I saw a Wii Game System on ebay for 4 million dollars! FOUR MILLION DOLLARS. Now try and tell me that Christmas hasn't lost its meaning.

How do we change this? How do we turn the holidays from a time of forced efforts to a time of joy? It wouldn't honestly take much. It would just simply mean taking the focus off of the gifts of the holidays and pointing it rather at the company. Items are just items, things are just things. But family, family is the people that are going to remember you when you're gone. Family is the people that are going to pass on your embarrassing childhood stories to generation after generation. Family is the people who will have warm hearts filled with happiness for you. Tell me the last time your iPod told you it loved you.

The holidays are a beautiful time. They're the time of year when family's must join together and welcome one another and fill each other's hearts with happy moments. Christmas needs to be turned back into the most wonderful time of the year, rather than the most superficial. Sure, we live in a great time period with increased technology that could help save lives more effectively, with any and everything available to us at the click of the mouse, with all of our emotions turned into to "lol" and "=)." While these are the benefits of our generations, maybe these are also the downfalls. As a result of the industrialized world, we're pulling away from the one thing that matters most: family.

Now is the time for the Christmas Spirit Revamped.  Rather than buying your friend those cute new shoes she wants, maybe you'll make her a card telling her how important she is to you. No more running around like a madwoman from Black Friday to Christmas Eve. Instead, relax, drink some coffee by the fire place, and  think of all of the good things you have in your life. Give it a shot; you might be amazed at how joyful the holiday season truly is.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year.